STEPHENSON: The Y factor can help immigration

Highlight line: “We need people to come, and when they come, we need them to stay. We want them to be comfortable, to become Nova Scotians and to … help us have a successful future.” Stuart MacLean, board chairman, Greater Halifax-Dartmouth YMCA.

Of the 2,700 immigrants who come to Nova Scotia each year, 70 per cent locate in Halifax.

On Tuesday, Premier Stephen McNeil announced his long-awaited Premier’s Council on Immigration, promised a year ago during the provincial election campaign. It is a council of two men, both from Halifax.

It’s hard to imagine two more experienced candidates. Wadih Fares, president of W.M. Fares Group, is a well-connected businessman who has been promoting and supporting immigration in this province for decades.

Colin Dodds, president of Saint Mary’s University, has made a mission of recruiting international students, establishing support programs and drawing revenues to the university that have helped sustain it through challenging years.

Both men, with lengthy records of community involvement, are immigrants themselves — two notable success stories in a province with a wealth of historical immigration successes.

Fares will be national chairman, working with business and government across the country to draw more immigrants to Nova Scotia. Dodds, international chairman, will use his extensive connections to maximize new federal rules that enable foreign students with job offers to remain in Canada.

Under the previous rules, foreign students were required to leave the country and then apply to immigrate, a process that typically could take several years. Needless to say, significant opportunities to retain foreign students as immigrants were lost to red tape.

But how, exactly, will appointing two people from Halifax help to create substantial immigration success in rural communities? It is those communities, not Halifax, which badly need more immigrants and an infusion of young workers.

Enter the YMCAs of Nova Scotia.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced an expanded partnership between the provincial Office of Immigration and various settlement service providers, including Immigrant Settlement & Integration Services, the YMCAs of Nova Scotia and a host of other groups. Immigrant Settlement & Integration Services will continue its provincewide role in supporting immigrants, while the YMCA role will be more community-based.

The intent, based on comments from a variety of speakers at Tuesday’s event at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, is to utilize the established community connections of YMCAs across the province the expand settlement services and help immigrants to make links within their new communities.

The Y is recognized in 120 countries around the world and has a 160-year history in this province, said Stuart MacLean, chairman of the board of directors of Greater Halifax-Dartmouth YMCA.

MacLean referenced the Ivany commission report’s call for the province to develop its own solutions to change its economic path, including on immigration, by developing stronger partnerships among existing stakeholders.

“It also talks about the need to be more welcoming, to change attitudes toward people who don’t look like you or sound like you,” said MacLean.

“We have a wonderful province and we have a lot to offer the world. … We need people to come and when they come, we need them to stay. We want them to be comfortable, to become Nova Scotians and to stay in this province to help us have a successful future.”

Andre Gallant, CEO of the YMCA of Cape Breton, said the Ys have connections that can be leveraged in communities to assist immigrants. “Whether it’s across the globe or across Nova Scotia, YMCAs have worked in some pretty tough social and economic environments, supporting people who are underserved.”

The province has been pushing for years to convince the federal government to change the cap on immigrations programs — 700 of the 2,700 new annual immigrants come through the province’s nominee program, while the rest arrive through federal programs. But Metledge Diab told me that beginning in January, the federal government will begin an “express entry” access initiative that will streamline the application process for any immigrant with a job offer in Canada, regardless of which program they qualify under. The intent is to ensure workers are available to fill labour market shortages.

Diab says she is determined to utilize the program to aggressively market this province as a destination, attracting trained workers with needed skills.

The government cannot be accused of moving too swiftly on this file. This province has an aging, declining workforce and a paucity of young families. The plan unveiled on Tuesday includes proven performers and has significant potential to turn around a woefully inadequate performance on drawing newcomers to Nova Scotia.